High-pressure liquid chromatographic identification of drugs used in management of arthritis

A screening procedure was developed for the identification of drugs used in the clinical treatment of arthritis. Each glucocorticoid, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agent, or tranquilizer was characterized by its retention on a reversed-phase high-pressure liquid chromatographic column and by the ratio of the response of dual UV detectors (254 and 280 nm). Although the retention times of all 14 drugs examined were < 4 min, each drug could be distinguished easily from the other drugs in the series.